The verdict in three sentences
For a 5-property hotel-restaurant group, a vertical PMS/POS (Mews, Lightspeed) is the default below 90 EUR/property/month per module, but multi-site consolidation stays painful. Custom software (60,000-95,000 EUR one-off + 18% annual maintenance) pays off when centralized group reporting saves 14 hours/month and yield management adds 5% RevPAR. At 5 sites with a single operations director, break-even arrives near 26 months.
Vertical vs custom: 2026 comparison
| Criterion | Vertical PMS/POS | Custom platform |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 40-90 EUR/property/month/module | 60,000-95,000 EUR one-off |
| Cost 5 sites, 3 modules/year | ~12,000-16,000 EUR | 18%/year maintenance |
| Multi-site consolidation | Weak / manual | Native, real-time |
| Yield management | Add-on | Custom |
| Accounting + POS integration | Standard | Native |
| Rollout | 4-8 weeks | 16-22 weeks |
| Data ownership | Vendor | You |
| GDPR hosting (OVH) | SaaS | Dedicated |
5-year TCO
| Item | Vertical 5 sites | Custom |
|---|---|---|
| License / build | 70,000 EUR (5 yrs) | 80,000 EUR |
| Accounting + POS integration | 8,000 EUR | included |
| Maintenance | included | 72,000 EUR (5 x 14,400) |
| GDPR hosting (OVH) | n/a | 5,400 EUR (5 yrs) |
| Multi-site training | 4,000 EUR | 5,000 EUR |
| 5-year total | ~82,000 EUR | ~162,400 EUR |
Custom costs more in gross TCO: it only repays through steering gains (reporting, yield, F&B margin). That happens once group revenue exceeds a few million euros.
PMS / POS modules to arbitrate
| Module | Estimated gain | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidated group reporting | 14 hours/month | High |
| Yield / dynamic pricing | +5% RevPAR | High |
| Integrated restaurant POS | -till error margin | High |
| Accounting bridge (Sage) | -4 hours/week | Medium |
| OTA channel manager | +occupancy | Medium |
| Cross-property loyalty | +recurrence | Low |
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Mini case study
Sophie, operations director of a Singapore hotel-restaurant group (5 properties, ~180 rooms), spends 14 hours/month consolidating reports from 5 separate PMS. At 45 EUR/hour loaded, that is ~7,560 EUR/year. A custom build at 80,000 EUR + 14,400 EUR/year maintenance removes that work and adds 5% RevPAR via yield: on ~4.2M EUR of room revenue, that is ~210,000 EUR of extra revenue, ~60% margin = ~126,000 EUR. Even crediting only 20% of that gain to the software, ROI drops below 26 months.
FAQ
What budget for custom hotel group software in 2026? Expect 60,000-95,000 EUR for a centralized multi-site PMS/POS, plus 18%/year maintenance (2026 order of magnitude).
Are Mews or Lightspeed enough for 5 properties? For each site's operations, yes: at 40-90 EUR/property/month per module they are excellent. The limit is group consolidation and cross-site yield.
What real gain on RevPAR? A well-tuned yield engine targets +5% RevPAR, often the first profitability driver of a custom project.
How long to deploy? Between 16 and 22 weeks for a platform centralizing PMS, POS, accounting and reporting across 5 sites.
Does guest data stay compliant? Yes: OVH hosting and fine-grained consent management ensure compliance on guest and booking data.
Let's scope your project. Share your property count, key modules (PMS, POS, yield) and indicative budget, and we frame vertical vs custom. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
